As much as I love realistic sci-fi or gritty sci-fi or hard sci-fi, I can’t deny that I’m growing a little tired of it. One reason the original Star Wars trilogy always resonated with me was because it wasn’t quite science fiction, but more science fantasy. Now that I’m older and don’t feel as insecure about whether or not my entertainment choices are “legitimate” enough for non-geeks, I’ve started hungering for sci-fi with pulp sensibilities, or sci-fi that’s just plain weird. I want to see more sci-fi where no one worries about whether or not the alien kingdoms or advanced technology could plausibly exist in real life if we only had some unobtanium. So I’m really liking that Hollywood is putting out more sci-fi that’s “out there”; off the top of my head, this summer offers both Guardians of the Galaxy (which is also a superhero movie) and Jupiter Ascending. And while either film could be a mess, just watch the first full-length trailer for the latest from the Wachowskis and tell me that doesn’t look like a grand adventure. We’ve had enough grim sci-fi like Elysium recently (putting aside the fact that it was a horrible movie and disappointed compared to District 9) — let’s have something really wild and fun. Read more…

What do you do when your franchise needs new ideas? Send it into space! They did it with Jason X, they did it with Super Mario Galaxy, and director Robert Rodriguez is teasing it with this fake trailer that aired before Machete Kills in October. If you didn’t go see it in theaters, you can see it here. Machete Kills Again…In Space is partially riffing on Star Wars, but I’ll let you see that for yourself. Now the only question is whether or not someone will put forth the money to make this sequel…or if it will be reasonably tied to any prior continuity, what with it, you know, being in space and all. Read more…

Big Lazy Robot, a VFX company with something to prove, has put together a seriously impressive 3-minute spec trailer for their fictitious movie, Keloid (released a week ago). Featuring lumbering police robots, armies, and limber mannequin-bots, the short has a gritty, realistic feel to it. They also leave plenty of things vague about the story — which robots are fighting for who? Are the humans losing as badly as it seems? The team made this video over a period of a year and it has paid off: IAM Entertainment and Vertigo Entertainment have already teamed up to look into making it into a feature film. Check out the short and see what you think! Read more…

I’ve seen starship comparisons before, but nothing quite this comprehensive: DeviantArt user DirkLoechel put together an absolutely massive chart of almost every starship out there. Star Wars? Of course. Star Trek? Obviously. Warhammer 40000? Eve? Wall-E? Yes, yes, and yes. It’s really neat to see each each side-by-side, so you can really start to get a sense of scale (something that’s usually pretty difficult to get a handle on in space). Now pick your favorite ship and try to hunt it down the high-res version, included below. Read more…

Where to go now that the Harry Potter films are finished? There’s a gap that studios are trying to fill with other book-to-film adaptations like Percy Jackson. Cue a press release from Disney: they’ll be adapting Eoin Cofler’s Artemis Fowl series — specifically the first two books — into a movie. The first book’s story involves the titular character, a genius, billionaire, and criminal, kidnapping a fairy and dealing with the results. The script is coming from Michael Goldenberg, who also wrote the script for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; he managed to take the slowest and most bloated Harry Potter book and turn it into a solid film, so that’s a good sign. Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal will executive produce the film. Read more…

Vin Diesel is back in a newRiddick film, and it seems like it’s practically Pitch Black with a bigger budget. Simply entitled Riddick, the film trailer depicts Riddick tearing up monsters, making cool poses, and just basically acting like you’d expect. This looks like a very effects-heavy film, but you know what? We need those now and then, and this looks to fill that need nicely. I have to wonder though if there will be a marginally-related video game released in conjunction with the film that turns out to be higher quality and more fondly remembered. I think many will agree that The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay was better than the second movie. Read more…

Here’s the official teaser posters for Men in Black 3, featuring what appears to be Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones or Josh Brolin, with letter art. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m not exactly a Men in Black fan, so maybe I’m a bit biased, but I’m not really sure why they decided to go with these images. It doesn’t help that I can’t even tell which Agent K is being depicted — previous drafts of the script had Agent J going back in time to team up with a young Agent K played by Brolin. Since they decided to start production on the film without a completed script, there have been numerous re-writes, and although Brolin and Jones are set to make an appearance, nobody is really sure how the plot will play out. Maybe it’s a good thing that I’ve found the image so ambiguous.

For those of us still waiting for our favorite Trek series to begin streaming this June, Shatner’s TekWar hit Netflix this week. I honestly don’t think it’ll fill the void, but you’re more than welcome to give the series a try. I love Bill Shatner, but sometimes I find myself asking why they let that man direct anything, let alone publish novels. Like The Final Frontier, I’ve found that TekWar serves as a prime example of why the man should never step behind the camera. Read more…

You may think you’re a sci-fi expert, but can you navigate this fittingly tentacular map of the history of the genre? Artist Ward Shelley created it for Places and Spaces: Mapping Science. Almost every important event or genre piece is here, though you may find that your pet series or favorite novel isn’t on there if you look hard enough. Click on the image for a super-huge version, well worth the few seconds to download. Read more…